Hens, Roosters, Poults, and Eggs

Chickens, what are they? They are birds. The female is a hen, the male is a rooster and their young are poults (although I call them little yellow chickens). When a bunch of chickens hang out together it is a flock. There are many different breeds of chickens, from the large Rhode Island Reds to the miniature Bantams.


The rooster has a large red comb on his head, so does the hen but her is much smaller. White the rooster crows, the hen lays eggs. Roosters protect the hens so they are more aggressiveat times; however, a hen with poults can be a real tiger too.

Both roosters and hens have big gizzards that grind up their food the way we do by chewing our food.


Laying chickens are omnivores, and need much more than mere vegetable scraps. We feed our hens and their big daddy's (we have three roosters) layer pellets, sunflower seeds, and also just let them forage for food all day.


The most important detail a chicken owner needs to attend to is fresh water for the chickens and plenty of it. A dozen chickens will drink about two gallons of water on a hot summer day.


When chickens forage in the yard, they are looking for worms, grubs, ticks, insects, and anything else small. I've read that it is good to feed chickens chopped onion and raw garlic to control worm infestations but I don't do that because I don't want garlic and onion eggs.